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The Best Of Creative Computing, Vol. 2
The Best of Creative Computing: Volume 2 contains more than 150 articles
published in Creative Computing magazine in 1977. It contains an amazing collection of material of interest to technology historians, retrocomputing hobbyists, and programmers.
These articles were written at a time when home computers were only becoming reality for the first time, when electronic calculators were still an expensive novelty, and when computers were only beginning to be used in business.
Highlights include:
*Technology - Present and Future
Televisionism Manifesto No. 1 by Phil Smith
Videodiscs - The Ultimate Computer Input Device? by Alfred M. Bork
The $2.98 Computer Library by Arthur Luehrmann
*Languages and Programming Theory
Simulated Strategies of Game Playing by Dr. S. Reisman
The Computer "Glass Box" - Teaching with A Programming Language by Howard A. Peelle
*Artificial and Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Can Computers Think? by David H. Ahl
The Cosmic Subway Line by Isaac Asimov
*Literacy, Philosophy, Opinion
Computer Literacy Quiz
The Government Dinosaur by Charles Winn
The Magic Of Electronic Funds Transfer by David H. Ahl
*Computers in Education
Computing At The University of Texas
Computers In Secondary Schools-1975
Computer Fair by Wes Thomas
Tips for Buying a Pocket Calculator by Peter Weaver
*Resources
Compleat Computer Catalogue
Star Trek Lives! by David H. Ahl
MITS World Altair Computer Convention by Andrea Lewis, Robert Prati
*Programming Techniques
Heapsort by Geoffrey Chase
A Comparison of Sorts by John P. Grillo
*Computer Games
Learning with Computer Games by David H. Ahl
Wumpus 2 by Gregory Yob
War 3 by Mike Forman, M.E. Lyon, Brian West
Dr. Z
Condot by Chuck Lund, Peter Olivieri
LEM by Bill Cotter
*Hardware
Building a MITS Altair 8800
Odyssey Video Games by David H. Ahl
Hewlett-Packard HP-25 Calculator by James Blodgett
Hints on Buying a Used Teletype by David H. Ahl
Hewlett-Packard 9815A Programmable Calculator by David Ettel
Tektronix 4051 Graphics System by Stephen B. Gray
*Reviews
Reviews of 34 Books on BASIC
The Sun Never Sets On IBM: The Culture And Folklore Of IBM World Trade
The Assault on Privacy: Computers, Data Banks, and Dossiers
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
Space: 1999
published in Creative Computing magazine in 1977. It contains an amazing collection of material of interest to technology historians, retrocomputing hobbyists, and programmers.
These articles were written at a time when home computers were only becoming reality for the first time, when electronic calculators were still an expensive novelty, and when computers were only beginning to be used in business.
Highlights include:
*Technology - Present and Future
Televisionism Manifesto No. 1 by Phil Smith
Videodiscs - The Ultimate Computer Input Device? by Alfred M. Bork
The $2.98 Computer Library by Arthur Luehrmann
*Languages and Programming Theory
Simulated Strategies of Game Playing by Dr. S. Reisman
The Computer "Glass Box" - Teaching with A Programming Language by Howard A. Peelle
*Artificial and Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Can Computers Think? by David H. Ahl
The Cosmic Subway Line by Isaac Asimov
*Literacy, Philosophy, Opinion
Computer Literacy Quiz
The Government Dinosaur by Charles Winn
The Magic Of Electronic Funds Transfer by David H. Ahl
*Computers in Education
Computing At The University of Texas
Computers In Secondary Schools-1975
Computer Fair by Wes Thomas
Tips for Buying a Pocket Calculator by Peter Weaver
*Resources
Compleat Computer Catalogue
Star Trek Lives! by David H. Ahl
MITS World Altair Computer Convention by Andrea Lewis, Robert Prati
*Programming Techniques
Heapsort by Geoffrey Chase
A Comparison of Sorts by John P. Grillo
*Computer Games
Learning with Computer Games by David H. Ahl
Wumpus 2 by Gregory Yob
War 3 by Mike Forman, M.E. Lyon, Brian West
Dr. Z
Condot by Chuck Lund, Peter Olivieri
LEM by Bill Cotter
*Hardware
Building a MITS Altair 8800
Odyssey Video Games by David H. Ahl
Hewlett-Packard HP-25 Calculator by James Blodgett
Hints on Buying a Used Teletype by David H. Ahl
Hewlett-Packard 9815A Programmable Calculator by David Ettel
Tektronix 4051 Graphics System by Stephen B. Gray
*Reviews
Reviews of 34 Books on BASIC
The Sun Never Sets On IBM: The Culture And Folklore Of IBM World Trade
The Assault on Privacy: Computers, Data Banks, and Dossiers
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
Space: 1999
- GenresNonfiction
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 4, 1977
7 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
David H. Ahl
21 booksLibrary of Congress Authorities: David H. Ahl
Books sometimes say only "David Ahl"
Books sometimes say only "David Ahl"
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 27, 2018
I bought this as much for the Gilbert Shelton cover (I’m pretty sure Freewheelin’ Franklin and Fat Freddy’s Cat are both in the picture) as for the vintage computer content. While I picked up a few issues of Creative Computing back in the day, the program listings were rarely as useful as the ones in 80 Microcomputing mainly because they were usually written for computers that I did not have, nor was it obvious how to convert them.
What makes this collection fascinating, however, is Creative Computing started publishing before there were any home computers to publish for. Their market appears to have been people with access to college mainframes. There was an acknowledgement that people could build their own computers either from scratch or using kits such as the Altair 8800—although no mention of the Apple kit introduced the same year as these issues—but there was very little in the way of information here on how to do that.
The collection was published in 1977; the introduction by editor David Ahl is dated January 1977. There is no sense in these pages that they had any idea what was about to happen. In 1977, when the three major non-kit home computers arrived, the Radio Shack TRS-80, the Commodore PET, and the Apple II, they’re arguing about whether we should consider programmable calculators to be computers. The main reason is that calculators were moderately affordable, and computers—pre-1977 computers—were not.
That said, while they didn’t know how fast the computer world was going to change, they absolutely knew that they were at the pre-dawn of the home/hobbyist computer user. They saw how computer chips were getting cheaper, smaller, and less power-hungry, and it was obvious that they would eventually spread not just to home computers but to non-computer applications as well.
The book includes a computer literacy quiz that includes questions about specific technologies and companies that aren’t just forgotten now, they were pretty much forgotten within a few years. On the other hand, the true/false statement for question 15 was prophetic:
But as all successful prophets know, prophecy is best kept vague. In another article, annoyed at high schools using out of date technology to teach computer skills (FORTRAN keypunching and giving cards to an operator to run) Ahl recommended only buying cutting edge technology so as to prepare kids for what they would see when they graduated. He helpfully included a list of what he recommended for the 1976/77 school year. Just about everything on that list was so outdated that I barely had any idea what they were in 1980/81 when I began paying attention to computers.
It was and is a tough issue, made tougher by the rapid advancement during that period. His cutting edge technology included the Altair 8800 with 8K. Before those freshman graduated IBM had introduced its first microcomputer and MITS was out of business.
There is some code in here, including the famous Hunt the Wumpus. BASIC predominated, making up the vast majority of useful code, but they also talked a lot about FORTRAN, ALGOL, SNOBOL, and some others.
There were cartoons, including by Shary Flennikin, and a lot of fiction, including Frederik Pohl’s A Day in the Life of Able Charlie.
There is an amazing set of reviews of Joseph Weizenbaum’s Computer Power and Human Reason.
Reading these articles, written on the very cusp of the microcomputer revolution, was amazing. It provides an extraordinary glimpse into a culture that was about to find all their dreams come true sooner than they expected.
What makes this collection fascinating, however, is Creative Computing started publishing before there were any home computers to publish for. Their market appears to have been people with access to college mainframes. There was an acknowledgement that people could build their own computers either from scratch or using kits such as the Altair 8800—although no mention of the Apple kit introduced the same year as these issues—but there was very little in the way of information here on how to do that.
The collection was published in 1977; the introduction by editor David Ahl is dated January 1977. There is no sense in these pages that they had any idea what was about to happen. In 1977, when the three major non-kit home computers arrived, the Radio Shack TRS-80, the Commodore PET, and the Apple II, they’re arguing about whether we should consider programmable calculators to be computers. The main reason is that calculators were moderately affordable, and computers—pre-1977 computers—were not.
That said, while they didn’t know how fast the computer world was going to change, they absolutely knew that they were at the pre-dawn of the home/hobbyist computer user. They saw how computer chips were getting cheaper, smaller, and less power-hungry, and it was obvious that they would eventually spread not just to home computers but to non-computer applications as well.
In a few years, everywhere you turn, a computer will be there to assist, to inform, or simply to play with.
The book includes a computer literacy quiz that includes questions about specific technologies and companies that aren’t just forgotten now, they were pretty much forgotten within a few years. On the other hand, the true/false statement for question 15 was prophetic:
One threat to privacy comes from the willingness of most people to provide information about themselves voluntarily.
But as all successful prophets know, prophecy is best kept vague. In another article, annoyed at high schools using out of date technology to teach computer skills (FORTRAN keypunching and giving cards to an operator to run) Ahl recommended only buying cutting edge technology so as to prepare kids for what they would see when they graduated. He helpfully included a list of what he recommended for the 1976/77 school year. Just about everything on that list was so outdated that I barely had any idea what they were in 1980/81 when I began paying attention to computers.
It was and is a tough issue, made tougher by the rapid advancement during that period. His cutting edge technology included the Altair 8800 with 8K. Before those freshman graduated IBM had introduced its first microcomputer and MITS was out of business.
There is some code in here, including the famous Hunt the Wumpus. BASIC predominated, making up the vast majority of useful code, but they also talked a lot about FORTRAN, ALGOL, SNOBOL, and some others.
There were cartoons, including by Shary Flennikin, and a lot of fiction, including Frederik Pohl’s A Day in the Life of Able Charlie.
There is an amazing set of reviews of Joseph Weizenbaum’s Computer Power and Human Reason.
Reading these articles, written on the very cusp of the microcomputer revolution, was amazing. It provides an extraordinary glimpse into a culture that was about to find all their dreams come true sooner than they expected.
Displaying 1 of 1 review